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Edu tussles with Cristiano Ronaldo.[Agencies] |
Ruud van Nistelrooy's 73rd-minute penalty kick and
Wayne Rooney's injury-time goal gave Manchester United a 2-0 victory Sunday over league-leading Arsenal, ending the Gunners' unbeaten
league streak at 49 games and moving the Red Devils back
into the league chase.
Van Nistelrooy scored after Rooney was brought down in the penalty box
by Sol Campbell, who kicked out his left leg hoping to slow the Manchester
United striker.
Three minutes into second-half injury time, Rooney broke in and beat
Arsenal goalie Jens Lehmann with a side-footed shot. The goal came on the
English striker's 19th birthday.
Van Nistelrooy missed an injury-time penalty kick in this match last
season, which ended in a scoreless tie and prompted a mass brawl. This time, he made no mistake,
beating Lehmann -- who went to his right and watched the ball go in to his
left.
 Arsenal still leads the Premier League with 25 points, followed
by Chelsea (23), Everton (22) and Bolton (18). The win pushed United up to
17 points.
Billed as the match of the early season, the game was a fast-paced, fierce midfield contest in front
of a sellout crowd of 67,862 at Old Trafford.
Arsenal broke the previous English record of 42 games without a loss
set by Nottingham Forest in the 1977-78 and 1978-79 seasons on August 25
after going through last season undefeated on its way to the Premier
League title.
Arsenal's previous defeat in a league game was a 3-2 loss to Leeds on
May 4, 2003. No other English club has gone undefeated for so many league games
since the Football League began in 1888.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2004-10-25 10:15